Mystic River

It reviews better than it plays — admired more than it is enjoyed.

• “Eastwood directs Mystic River with an invigorated grace and gravitas. This is a true American beauty of a movie, a tale of men and their bonds told by and for adults who value the old-fashioned Hollywood-studio notion of narrative.”

  Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly · 100

• “Mystic River is the rare American movie that aspires to -- and achieves -- the full weight and darkness of tragedy.”

  Dana Stevens, The New York Times · 100

• “Clint Eastwood pours everything he knows about directing into Mystic River. His film sneaks up, messes with your head and then floors you. You can't shake it. It's that haunting, that hypnotic.”

  Peter Travers, Rolling Stone · 100

• “As close as we are likely to come on the screen to the spirit of Greek tragedy (and closer, I think, than Arthur Miller has come on the stage). The crime of child abuse becomes a curse that determines the pattern of events in the next generation. [13 October 2003, p. 112]”

  David Denby, The New Yorker · 100

• “A haunted thriller of disturbing power.”

  David Ansen, Newsweek · 100